WEBVTT - How Do Wolverines Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Lauren bog obamb here. The taxonic family of weasels

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<v Speaker 1>is a motley crewe. They can be slinky and shy

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<v Speaker 1>like a pine Marten, or grouchy and taciturn like a badger.

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<v Speaker 1>Ferrets and otters are playfuling curious, and then there are

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<v Speaker 1>honey badgers, which are basically just berserker weasels. But perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>the most fascinating weasel is the wolverine. The scientific name

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<v Speaker 1>for a wolverine is gullo gullo, which is literally Latin

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<v Speaker 1>for glutton, glutton. I'm not sure whether the team at

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<v Speaker 1>Marvel knew that when they were designing X Men's brudy antihero,

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<v Speaker 1>but these animals seem legitimately super heroic, not only in

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<v Speaker 1>what and how much they managed to eat, but how

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<v Speaker 1>they generally ace life in the northern forests and alpine

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<v Speaker 1>tundra they call home. About the size of a midsized dog,

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<v Speaker 1>but resembling a small bear, a wolverine is a weasel

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<v Speaker 1>of paradox, weighing in between twenty two and forty pounds.

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<v Speaker 1>It's about ten to eighteen kilows, the males being larger

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<v Speaker 1>than the females. They defend territories greater than those presided

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<v Speaker 1>over by grizzly bears, from forty miles up to three

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and seventy miles that's between sixty five and six

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<v Speaker 1>hundred kilometers, and they do it aggressively. They've been known

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<v Speaker 1>to fight a wolf or even a bear off of

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<v Speaker 1>a kill. That's said. Wolverines are omnivores, eating pretty much

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<v Speaker 1>whatever their sensitive noses lead them to ground squirrels, moose,

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<v Speaker 1>mountain goats, carcasses buried meters under the ice, and snow birds, eggs, berries,

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<v Speaker 1>et cetera. They'll even dig deep under the snow to

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<v Speaker 1>kill and eat a hibernating animal, unlike a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>other Arctic animals that deal with the long, bitter winters

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<v Speaker 1>by either hibernating or migrating someplace. Ballmere a wolverine's dense,

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<v Speaker 1>frost resisted coat, which at one time made them a

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<v Speaker 1>major target for fur trappers. It's snowshoe like paws and

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<v Speaker 1>the ability to chump through frozen meat and even bones

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<v Speaker 1>make it possible for them to stay outside in the

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<v Speaker 1>far North year round. They're all so pretty hyperactive, no

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<v Speaker 1>matter what time of year it is. One wolverine wearing

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<v Speaker 1>a tracking device in Grand Tenton National Park was found

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<v Speaker 1>to have walked over five hundred miles that's over eight

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<v Speaker 1>hundred kilometers in two months. We spoke with Rebecca Waters,

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<v Speaker 1>executive director of the Wolverine Foundation based in Bozeman, Montana.

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<v Speaker 1>She said they can go and go and go, no

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<v Speaker 1>matter what the terrain is like. They have crazy metabolisms,

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<v Speaker 1>and they don't hibernate, so they're always out exploring. They've

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<v Speaker 1>also been known to climb hills and slide down on

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<v Speaker 1>the snow repeatedly just for fun. While curious and fearless,

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<v Speaker 1>wolverines are almost pathologically kg. They're nocturnal, so they're used

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<v Speaker 1>to slinking around in the shadows, and they've been known

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<v Speaker 1>to stock researchers for miles without being spotted. And just

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<v Speaker 1>as fur trappers of old had a difficult time catching

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<v Speaker 1>wolverines and preventing them from robbing their traps, modern researchers

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<v Speaker 1>have had a hard time finding, following, and catching them.

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<v Speaker 1>Waters said they're wildly clever and playful. It's very hard

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<v Speaker 1>to trap a wolverine. If you're trying to catch it

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<v Speaker 1>to kill it, but they know when a research live

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<v Speaker 1>trap is out, and they'll return again and again for

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<v Speaker 1>free meal. Sometimes they'll take apart the camera strops that

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<v Speaker 1>are set up nearby, or play with loose ropes or wires,

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<v Speaker 1>But as difficult as they are to find in the flesh,

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<v Speaker 1>it's not tough to find where they've been. One of

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<v Speaker 1>the common names for wolverines is skunk bear or stink bear,

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<v Speaker 1>because they spray various landmarks and sometimes their enemies, with

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<v Speaker 1>a special concoction of methyl budonic acids from their anal glands,

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<v Speaker 1>the smell of which has variously been described as sweaty, cheesy,

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<v Speaker 1>and like a barnyard. They do this to communicate with

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<v Speaker 1>each other, since one male might have three or more

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<v Speaker 1>females living in his territory raising his kits or babies

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<v Speaker 1>with him. Males do help raise the babies. Wolverines also

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<v Speaker 1>communicate vocally with each other and especially their kits and mother.

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<v Speaker 1>Wolverines dig burrows sometimes fifteen feet that's four and a

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<v Speaker 1>half meters under the snow to protect their kids from

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<v Speaker 1>predators and the coal. Although wolverines are currently considered a

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<v Speaker 1>species of least concern of extinction, having bounced back after

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<v Speaker 1>nearly going extinct during the nineteenth century due to habitat

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<v Speaker 1>loss and aggressive hunting, poisoning, and extermination campaigns. They're currently

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<v Speaker 1>facing new threats. Waters said. Habitat loss and fragmentation are

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<v Speaker 1>issues for the population in the lower forty eight States

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<v Speaker 1>due to development. Wolverines require cold and snow, which is

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<v Speaker 1>mostly found at high elevations in the lower forty eight.

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<v Speaker 1>Wolverines have very large territories, so a single mountain range

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<v Speaker 1>can only hold a few adult animals, and young animals

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<v Speaker 1>have to find uninhabited territories, often in a different range,

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<v Speaker 1>if they want to reproduce. All of this is, of

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<v Speaker 1>course compounded by climate change, which is reducing the amount

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<v Speaker 1>of cold and snowy habitat in the mountains. As the

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<v Speaker 1>snowy winter season becomes shorter, wolverine habitat shrinks. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>was written by Joceline Shield and produced by Tyler Clay.

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